The United States executed “Operation Midnight Hammer” Saturday night, delivering “extremely severe damage” to key Iranian nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
The mission, revealed today by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has sent shockwaves across the globe, with the world anxiously awaiting Iran’s response.
However, in his first interview since the U.S. action, Secretary of State Marco Rubio firmly asserted on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo that the strikes do not constitute an act of war against Iran.
READ: Vice President JD Vance: Iran Strikes “Reset,” Not Road To War
“No, we’re not [at war],” Secretary Rubio stated emphatically. “This is not a war against Iran. This is very simple. 67 days ago, the President of the United States sent the Iranians a letter, and it said, ‘You’re not going to have nuclear weapons. You’re not going to have a militarized nuclear program. Let’s negotiate. I want to do this diplomatically. I want to do this peacefully.'”
Rubio accused Iran of playing games with the U.S., a tactic he claimed they have employed with every American president for the past 35 years.
“The President told them if we don’t get a deal, which is what we wanted, then I’ll have to handle it differently. And that’s what he did. Last night, he handled it differently, but that was an Iranian choice. We didn’t make that choice; they did by playing games with Donald Trump. They made a huge mistake, and President Trump acted last night, and I think the world today is safer and more stable than it was 24 hours ago.”
READ: GOP Lawmakers Applaud President Trump’s Decisive Action Against Iran
General Caine, earlier in the Pentagon briefing, lauded “Operation Midnight Hammer” as a “complex and high-risk mission carried out with exceptional skill and disciplined by our joint force.” He extended gratitude to “every service member, planner, operator, that made this mission possible. Their actions reflect the highest standards of the United States Armed Forces.”
The operation involved seven B-2 Spirit stealth bombers departing Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri under extreme secrecy. General Caine indicated that only “very few people” had direct knowledge of the mission’s specifics. Secretary Hegseth added that Congressional members were “immediately” notified after the attack.
The bombers endured an 18-hour journey to Iran, facilitated by multiple mid-air refuelings, marking the second-longest B-2 mission in U.S. history. They unleashed 14 GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs on Fordow and Natanz. The Isfahan nuclear site was simultaneously targeted by Tomahawk missiles launched from U.S. ships and submarines south of Iran.
READ: Trump’s “Midnight Hammer” On Iran Tests War Powers Act
Despite the intensity of the strikes, Secretary Hegseth sought to allay fears of a prolonged conflict, emphasizing that the Trump administration was not pursuing regime change. Both officials, however, made it clear that U.S. forces are prepared to retaliate against any attacks on American bases in the region.
Secretary Rubio concluded his remarks by asserting that despite public condemnations from some nations, privately, “they all agree with us that this needed to be done. They got to do what they got to do for, you know, their own public relations purposes, but the only people in the world that are unhappy with what happened last night in Iran, is the regime in Iran.”
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